1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to bow hunting for game animals and more particularly to the use of a detachable device used in combination with an arrow-mounted locating device to track and locate a wounded animal.
2. Description of Prior Art
Arrow-mounted tracking devices, and in particular arrow-mounted transmitting devices, are well known in the industry. Several devices have been developed for tracking and locating game animals that have been wounded by bow hunters. These devices range from trailing a string or thread from an arrow, releasing paint or smoke from an arrow, and equipping an arrow with an electronic transmitting device. U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,612, dated Nov. 3, 1987, to Dan D. Boy, and reissued as U.S. Pat. No. Re. 33,470, dated Dec. 4, 1990, discloses a method and apparatus for tracking an animal using an electronic transmitting device contained within an arrow shaft. While the Boy invention is an improvement over mechanical devices, such as arrows trailing string or thread which can become tangled or broken and which have limited range, and over chemical devices, such as paint or smoke emitting arrows which can be difficult to follow through thick underbrush or may be dispersed by wind, it nevertheless has a significant drawback. Modern compound and recurve bows used to hunt deer, bear, turkey, and other game animals typically shoot an arrow completely through the game animal at ranges of up to 45 yards. If the arrow passes completely through the game animal, which is the preferred method for killing a game animal with an arrow, the transmitting device will not work to track the wounded animal, but will merely provide the location of the spent arrow. U.S. Pat. No. 5,446,467, dated Aug. 29, 1995, to Eugene M. Willett, which discloses a detachable dart affixed to the exterior of an arrow and containing a transmitting device, which dart detaches from the arrow and remains attached to the wounded animal upon impact, theoretically avoids the disadvantage of the Boy invention but introduces another deficiency in that the size, weight, and position of the externally attached dart (along with its required counterweight) negatively impacts the flight of the arrow and reduces the accuracy of the arrow""s flight, making it an unattractive alternative to a bow hunter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,442, dated Dec. 11, 1990, to Woodrow L. Treadway, discloses an apparatus in which a transmitting device is located within the hollow shaft of an arrow and is removable therefrom through a notch cut into the arrow shaft, such that upon impact with an animal the transmitting device remains attached to the wounded animal irrespective of the ultimate location of the spent arrow. The Treadway apparatus, by enclosing the bulk of the removable transmitting device within the arrow shaft, does not, in theory, cause the severe degree of negative impact to the flight of the arrow and the corresponding reduction in the accuracy of the arrow""s flight seen in the Willett invention; however, the notch cut into the arrow shaft requires archery hunters to use specially designed arrow shafts, at increased cost, rather than their preferred model, and the loss of a spent arrow which has passed through an animal entails the loss of the expensive custom designed shaft.
It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved detachable device for use with an arrow-mounted locating device which is designed to attach the locating device to a game animal upon impact when the arrow passes through the animal, while minimizing the impact of the detachable device and locating device on the flight of the arrow, and allowing bow hunters to use their preferred model of arrow shaft rather than an expensive custom designed arrow shaft.
In one aspect, the invention is directed to a detachable nock capable of carrying a locating device and suitably adapted for use with an arrow, and having the ability to separate the locating device from the arrow and securing the locating device to a game animal, said detachable nock comprising a nock body, a means incorporated into the nock body suitably adapted for carrying the locating device, a bowstring receiving means situated at the rear of the nock body, an attachment component for removably attaching the detachable nock to the arrow, and a retention component for securing the detachable nock to the game animal, whereby upon the arrow striking the game animal the retention component engages and lodges into the game animal with sufficient energy to detach the nock from the arrow and thus separate the locating device from the arrow and secure the locating device to the game animal.
This aspect may include one or more of the following features: the means for carrying the locating device being a hollow chamber integrated into the nock body; the bowstring receiving means being a flanged end cap having flanges forming a vertical notch; the flanged end cap being removable and being suitably adapted to provide access to the hollow chamber; the attachment component having a substantially cylindrical or tapered shape to be removably attached to the arrow shaft directly or into an adapter fitted into the arrow shaft; the attachment component comprised of multiple flexible flanges; the retention component being either fixed or engageable for engaging and lodging into the target; the fixed retention component having one or more fixed hooks; the fixed retention component having one or more grab members; the engageable retention component having one or more hinged hooks; the engageable retention component having one or more barb guards; and the engageable retention component having one or more pivoting grabbers.
Other features and advantages of the invention are described below.